The Southern Belle and the Redneck
by vegetasbubble
Summary: She was the sweet southern belle, daughter of a religious man. He was the hardened hunter, abused and unloved. A series of one-shots focused on the relationship of Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene from The Walking Dead. Rated overall M but each chapter is rated independently. Based on a number of songs, quotes and pictures. To see the songs and pictures check my wordpress account.
1. Born to Die

**Born to Die** / Beth x Daryl / Rated PG 15+, contains Dixon language, sexual references, violence. Set in Season 3.

Story based on the song "Born to Die" by Lana Del Rey.

**I've changed the characters ages:** Beth is 18 and Daryl is only 29.

Daryl was confused and annoyed at Rick. He didn't know what was going on in the former officers mind when he suggested Daryl take the youngest Greene sister on a supply run. "She needs the experience," Rick had simply said and gone back to speaking to Glenn about the security of the Prison. Daryl had simply scoffed, grabbed his crossbow from against the wall and called to Beth "Come on then blondie" and headed out towards the Harley he had restored a few years ago. Beth ran after him, shooting a look to her father and sister before following the Dixon brother out of the holding cell area and to his bike.

Beth had managed to hide from everyone's view for almost a year, letting her father and sister speak for their family although she had wanted to speak up a number of times since. Having to spend one's adolescent life running from walkers and instant death made simple things seem like a fantasy. Beth spent her first night at the prison remembering her high-school days, hanging out with her friends along with Jimmy and being a normal teenager. She missed her cell phone, the internet and coffee. Oh God, she missed coffee. Beth couldn't remember the last time she had a steaming cup of joe in her hands. Just the smell alone was enough to set Beth into an orgasmic state.

"Hurry up, blondie," Daryl spat as he hitched his pack to the back of the bike. Beth shook her head, realising she must have looked like a crazy person just standing there doing and saying nothing. Checking that she had her knife and gun – Rick had been teaching her how to shoot – Beth neared Daryl and the bike as he started the powerful engine with a single push. He nodded to her and Beth straddled the bike, grasping the back of the bike with her hands before Daryl stated, "I'm going to go to fast for that, might wanna hold on to me instead," which made Beth blush. She was glad Daryl was facing the opposite direction and couldn't see the redness in her face.

Removing her hands from the back of the bike, and shakily placed her small hands around his hard middle. "Hold on," he grunted and revved the bike watching as Carl quickly opened the gate for Daryl to manoeuvre the bike past the walkers and down along the highway. Beth watched the afternoon sun as it flicked through the trees, completely oblivious to the world ending around it. She felt at ease, on the back of Daryl's bike as he sped along, ignoring the various pile ups along the road and if this was any other situation, Beth would have thought it was a date.

_Whoa_, she thought, _where the hell did that come from?_ Beth sighed heavily as Daryl turned off the highway onto another road. Beth ignored the feeling of daryl's hardened stomach under her hands, the soft grittiness of his torn shirt against her chest or the gentle heartbeat she could feel between them. Daryl pulled into a town – the name had been covered in graffiti – and stopped the bike in the front of an abandoned house. Daryl put the kickstand down, hopped off and helped Beth off by offering a simple hand. She took the hand and jumped off, watching as Daryl readied his crossbow and shot her a look. "Ready?" he asked with a raised brow.

Beth nodded and grabbed her knife from her boot and followed Daryl into the house. Like most of the houses they chad come across, pretty much everything was gone. Beth spotted a child's room in the downstairs corner and quickly ran in, trying to find some kind of toy for Judith. She felt sorry for the small baby, to be born in this world. Spotting a white rabbit and a box of blocks, Beth tried to fit them into her backpack. Rejoining Daryl in the kitchen, Beth found that he was squatted at a bottom cupboard, going through them quickly. He threw can after can out – mainly pet food – and swore under his breath.

He headed upstairs, Beth assumed to check the bedrooms and bathrooms – while she kept an eye out downstairs. Standing by the door, Beth kept her eyes darting from left to right and back again, as Rick had taught her. Out of her peripheral vision, Beth noticed a lone walker stumble into town. Knowing how slow the creatures were, Beth figured Daryl would have a few more minutes scavenging before they had to leave.

It was as Beth's eyes flicked to the right side of town that her eyes widened and she ran to the staircase. "Daryl!" she hissed, hopefully not to loud. He appeared at the top of the stairs a moment later, backpack heavy with goods in one hand and his crossbow in the other. Beth mentioned to the door with her eyes and he quickly joined her downstairs and eyed the outside from the doorway.

"Shit!" he cursed, noticing the almost hundred walkers heading into the town. "Its a herd," he hissed and grabbed Beth's arm and ran back up the stairs to one of the bedrooms. She helped him push an old dresser against the doorway before heading to the window and peaking out through the curtains. The walkers began to disperse throughout the town, heading into each house slowly. Daryl joined her and pushed her back a little so that she was behind him. Beth blushed, his close proximity making her slightly shy. Shaking the thoughts from her head, the young blonde girl focused on the situation before her. "How many do you think there are?" she whispered.

"Too many to make a run for it," he whispered back, "if we tried to get to the bike once of us may get caught. Don't really feel like being yelled at if that's you, blondie." Beth poked him and he chuckled. His eyes refocused on the road and watched as a few walkers entered the house. Beth moved behind him more as she heard the walkers begin to roam the house beneath them.

Daryl was a hardened man, Beth knew, from what Maggie had gotten from Glenn and told her while they were still on the farm. He had a brother who had reappeared at the prison a few days ago before leaving again, not before making a few suggestive comments her way. Beth had felt uncomfortable around the older Dixon brother but around Daryl she felt nothing but safe. He was older than her also, just over ten years, but the appeal of him was still high. Unlike the guys she had grown up with – including Jimmy and the boys who used to go to church with her – Beth found Daryl to be the typical bad boy that any young girl could fall for.

"Stay quiet," he whispered, moving them both so that they were now crouched down behind the bed. Daryl held one arm over her back and on the bed while his other held the crossbow tightly, "They may move on soon, if we're lucky." Beth silently nodded and chewed on her bottom lip. Daryl nudged her and grinned in her direction. "Hey blondie, I won't let anything happen to you okay?"

Beth wanted to scold him for the use of the nickname but ignored it instead. The rattling of the doorknob made Beth jump and Daryl's hand moved from the bed to her shoulder. He gently squeezed it and their eyes locked. Ignoring the fact that there was a walker not even ten paces away from them on the other side of the door, Beth reached up and gently touched his face with her hand.

Daryl froze – this girl, no, this woman – was touching him so softly, softer than he could ever remember anyone ever touching him, even his mother. He had noticed her straight away of course, the petite blonde girl standing on her father's porch and welcomed them all into their home. She was young, he knew that, but the end of the world had made her grow into a woman early. The loss of her boyfriend and family had impacted greatly on her life and he had watched silently as she had changed from a young innocent girl to a strong, independent woman.

Daryl had never felt what he felt for Beth. The youngest Greene daughter caused things to stir that hadn't stirred for a few years now. Sure he's had lovers, many over the years actually, but none as innocent and beautiful as Beth. The young woman stared into his eyes and he felt something different, something he hadn't felt before – what was it exactly?

"Beth," he whispered, one of the only few times he had actually used her real name. His voice was husky and southern and Beth loved the sound of her name on his lips. His goatee was scruffy and dirty, like his hair and he wished he could shower or at least bathe more than he had. She looked perfect – clean and proper in her faded and worn jeans and simple halter top. The hand touching his face pushed the stray hair from his eyes – those brown eyes that looked so serious most of the time – and lifted herself slightly to her knees.

He couldn't do this, he kept trying to tell himself, Hershel would kill him.

All thoughts of Hershel, walkers and their families were gone when Beth's soft lips placed themselves on his. Slightly surprised at first, Daryl didn't know weather to pull away or respond. Instinct kicked in and he grasped Beth's shoulders and pulled her against him, moulding his mouth around her own. Beth moaned against his lips as she gave in to all the feelings that had been pent up over the last few weeks. She shuddered when his hands began to lower and drift up and down her sides. A slight touch to the underside of her breast made Beth press into his touch which instantly snapped Daryl from what was happening.

"Shit, shit, shit," he cursed, moving away from her. Beth simply sat there, breaths heavy and chest lifting up and down with each breath and watching Daryl curiously. "That should not have happened."

"Why not?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You're just a kid."

"I'm eighteen," she said, surprising him, "I turned eighteen two days ago."

"Why didn't anyone say anything?"

Beth simply shrugged and looked away. "Celebrating birthdays doesn't seem that important anymore," she replied softly, Daryl recognising the hurt and sadness in her voice, "I made sure to keep track of the days and months."

"You should have said something. They would have celebrated."

"What's the point?" she asked, "At this rate I'll be dead before I'm twenty. Why worry about how old I am when I die?"

"Cause you ain't gonna die, that's why," he stated, "Look, I'm sorry about your birthday and everything but we ain't loosin' anymore people. We've lost enough." Beth noticed the way his voice saddened and made to stand.

"You lost someone?" He shrugged and moved to stand by the window, looking down on the street.

"Merle." Beth gasped, knowing his brother had been alive days earlier. "He turned so I killed him." He sounded hurt but uncaring at the same time. "He deserved it anyway." Beth moved towards the window and stood beside him, looking at at the road also. The sun was beginning to set and there were only a few walkers in the street now. "I saw how he looked at you and heard how he spoke to you those few times."

"It was nothing," she tried to say, placing her hand against his arm, "He never acted on it."

"Only cause I told him to back off," he whispered. Eyeing the road, Daryl continued, "The herd has passed through. We should be able to make it back to the bike." Beth nodded and looked around the room one final time. Spotting a photo on the floor, Beth bent to pick it up when a hand shot out from under the bed. Beth screamed and Daryl was quickly at her side, pulling the hand off her.

Daryl pulled the walker out from under the bed, which was only half a walker upon closer inspection. Daryl gave it a disgusted look before loading his crossbow and shooting the walker between the eyes, his blood and brains seeping onto the floor. He turned to the small woman behind him, still slightly shocked about what had happened. "You okay?" he asked, taking her arm in his hand and turning it over to check for marks. Not a single one.

Beth nodded and slumped against him, obviously shaken up over what had happened. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she gripped his shirt in her hands. Daryl didn't know how to comfort crying women so he simply did what came natural. He slowly rose his arms up, wrapped them around her small frame and pressed his body against hers. "I'm sorry Daryl," she whispered again, "I'm useless. Rick's trying to teach me things but I can't, I just can't-"

"Hey now," he said gently, "its okay. How about I teach you some things? You know, since Rick's busy with Judith. I can teach you how to track and hunt and even take down a couple of walkers. I've seen you do it, you're lethal blondie."

She chuckled against him and nodded silently, accepting his offer and wishing they could live in a normal world. "Can I ask you a favour?"

"Sure thing," he responded as she pulled her face away from him. Daryl stood a good head taller than the blonde girl, if not more and looking down at her now, her tear stained face and pale cheeks, he just wanted to keep her safe.

"Kiss me again?" Daryl didn't need to be told twice as he lowered his face to hers, lips touching soon, soft and caring before turning heavy and lustful. Beth grasped at his shirt, enjoying the feeling of him against her again and hoped they could have more time like this. Daryl held one hand to her waist while the other sneaked up through her hair and pressed her closer to him.

They melted against each other for what felt like forever before Daryl slowly ended the kiss, using their final moments to leave soft kisses and touches on her face, neck and arms. "We should head back," he whispered against her cheek as she pressed herself against him again.

"Mmm-hmm," she agreed and smiled as he pressed one last kiss against her forehead. Taking her hand gently, Daryl moved the dresser front in front of the door and quickly checked the house before ushering Beth out of the house. They packed their bags onto the bike and Beth was happy to join him back on the back, arms wrapped around his middle. He started the bike quickly and sped out of the town, passing by a few stray walkers on the way back to the prison.

Beth tried to enjoy the ride back but knew going back to the prison would make the last few hours feel amazing. She knew she couldn't really say anything, besides, she had no idea what they were. Sure they had kissed heavily and Daryl had even gotten some side boob but for all she knew, Daryl was with Carol. She had seen them together multiple times since their arrival at the farm but after the kisses they had just shared, Beth had to believe that something was happening between them.

Their arrival back at the prison came sooner than Beth had wished for and watching Carol open the front gate made a world of hurt fall on Beth's shoulders. Daryl parked his bike in the yard and helped Beth off the bike again, even shooting her a small smile. Carl came running out and hugged her, making Beth smile. The small boy obviously had a schoolboy crush on her and after kissing Daryl, Beth could easily say she had eyes for older men, not younger. Carol ran to Daryl and asked him how he was, even checking him over like a worried mother would.

Beth grabbed her back from the back of the bike and began to head back inside, mainly to find Judith to give her the toys she had salvaged when Daryl called out to her. "Hey blondie," he said, making her grin. He jogged up to her and smiled. "Good work today," he said, "and remember what I said about that training." She nodded and watched as his eyes lit up. "I mean it," he said in a lowered voice that she hoped he only shared with her.

Maggie came running up to her then, asking her all about her trip. Beth waved to Daryl and headed inside with her sister and to find Judith. Looking once more over her shoulder, Beth was happy to see Daryl watching her. His eyes never left her form until she was safely inside the cell block.

~Fin


	2. The Parting Glass

**The Parting Glass** / Beth x Daryl, from Daryl's POV / Rated G / Season 3, Episode 1

He helps them set up camp in the prison yard, dragging the dead bodies of walkers to one side so that they can get a good night sleep. He follows Rick as they scale a tower and keep watch for about an hour while the others settle in. Daryl watches over the women mainly, because he worries more for them than anyone else. Carl can look after himself, so can Glenn and T-Dog and the others. As he stands beside Rick on the tower, he watches as Carl lights a fire and the group settle around it.

"Want to head down?" Rick asks him and he nods, following their leader. If Merle was here, he would call him pussy-whipped, letting some sheriff deputy take over. But Daryl didn't care, he didn't want to lead, he wanted to survive. As they neared the camp, he heard Hershel ask his younger daughter – Beth, the blonde one – to sing a song from her childhood. Daryl tried to remember good things from his childhood but couldn't think of many.

He recognised the song she began singing almost instantly – it was an old celtic song he had heard many times in school and the way the young woman was singing made him want to listen more. He settled down next to T-Dog as she continued to sing. _Of all the comrades that e'er I had, They're sorry for my going away. _Daryl shook his head, ignoring the thoughts that suddenly flooded his mind about his brother and the years of abuse he had gone through when he was younger. T-Dog offered him a cracker – somehow they had managed to find actual food – and he slowly took it. Daryl lifted his eyes and met Beth's who were looking directly at him. _I gently rise and softly call, Good night and joy be to you_ _all_. Daryl moved his eyes to the fire as the song ended and Beth was praised by her father and sister.

The camp soon went quiet, the only sounds coming from the few stray walkers on the other side of the fence. Soon enough, most of the camp had fallen asleep and Beth was amongst them, curled by the fire by her father and sister. Daryl didn't sleep much, mainly keeping watch while also repeating the song Beth had sung over and over in his head. _Fill to me the parting glass, And drink a health whate'er befalls, And gently rise and softly call, Good night and joy be to you all._

~Fin


	3. Prose to Page

**Prose to Page** / Beth x Daryl / Rated PG 15+, slight use of curse words.

Based on the song "Over Anticipate" by Emily Kinney herself. Listen to the lyrics and tell me that its not a Beth/Daryl song. Set after Season 4 episode 1. I own nothing, not the song or the show or anything!

Beth found herself skimming her fingers along the keys gracefully, remembering her days in school when she and her friends would spend their lunch hours in the music room, bettering themselves for a prominent future. Well, before the world went to shit. It had been almost twelve full hours since Daryl had told her back Zack. Twelve hours since the only person she could be intimate and close with had been taken and killed.

Beth sighed heavily, allowing her fingers to press into the keys. It was a rare find, the piano hidden in the back corner of the library covered by a tarp. She wondered if some of the inmates had used it. Beth had been somewhat surprised that Daryl had been the one to tell her – she expected Maggie or Glenn or even Rick but for Daryl, the man she knew almost nothing about, to come and tell her himself? It was unthinkable and yet, slightly welcomed.

Ever since she and her family had invited the rag-tag group to their family farm, Beth had kept quiet and unspoken when it came to many things – including walkers, fighting and training. She knew how to protect herself, sure, but to actually have been involved in her father's and Rick's daily plans was lost on Beth and she didn't mind.

She had been penning a new song when Daryl had came to her cell, slumped against the wall and solemnly told her about Zack. Unhappy and yet unwilling to cry, Beth had thanked Daryl but hugging him and then leaving. He had felt tense under her hold and while he had indeed returned the hug, he had felt stiff and pushed into the unknown.

All in all, Beth knew nothing about him but still, oddly, found the overzealous man quite attractive. She giggled as she thought of that, having an attraction to someone much older than her – she didn't even know his exact age – and then felt slightly bad because of the circumstances of said attraction. Zack was dead, the only reason Daryl had spoken to her in the first place.

"_Could you fall in love with me? Love is such a mind blowing mystery_," she sang, pressing her fingers against the correct keys as each word left her mouth. Being alone in the library and having such a large space to work with, Beth's voice and the sound of the piano travelled and echoed throughout the whole room and she smiled softly.

"_I know you're very busy, and the timing's not quite right, but I would take a bus on a busy Sunday night, too see you, too see you…_" Beth thought about her relationships – first Jimmy and then Zack, both her own age and both simple, straight forward boys. Jimmy had been her first kiss, at the age of sixteen, and had even tried to pressure her for sex when turning seventeen. Beth had held out and when he had been ripped away from her that night on the farm, she thought she would never find someone else.

Until Woodberry that was, until the residents of the town joined them at the prison and she had met Zack. He was two years older than her and had been studying at collegewhen the outbreak began. They had spent countless nights together before Zack had finally kissed her and even felt her up a little, much to Beth's amusement. She had blushed, pushed his hand away and explained her virgin nature to him. He had just smiled, turned back to the view and nudged her. "Its ok," he had replied and walked her home to her cell with no more than a light peck on her lips.

But then he had been taken, like Jimmy, by the walkers and killed on a routine run. Daryl had tried to comfort her with simple words and Beth had been appreciative of that but still, she found herself alone and unlucky in love. Thinking of Daryl again, Beth smiled. "_Could you be my boyfriend, boys are such a big book that I haven't read_," she sang, believing each word she sang. Her father had always told her to apply to Juliard, that maybe her music talents weren't to be wasted but Beth didn't want to leave her family. Her family and Jimmy. Zack and Jimmy had been the same people, simple and clean-cut and Beth knew what to expect but what she hadn't expected was Daryl.

She hadn't expected him to show up to her cell to tell her back Zack. She hadn't expected him to care enough to listen to her drawl on about her loss of tears anymore. Most importantly, she hadn't expected him to hug her back when she wrapped her arms around his middle. She wondered exactly how many women had Daryl been with, if he had even been in a relationship with any of them – hell, he may even had had kids. Beth knew nothing about the so-called redneck but she knew one thing: she liked him. "_I know that you're much older, and you've had so many lovers, but there's no place I'd rather be, than underneath the covers with you – with you_."

Beth sang the words with a slight blush to her cheeks. The thought of having sex with Daryl, hell, having sex with anyone, was still a strange one to Beth. He was older, yes and that meant he knew things. Knew things that he could teach her. Beth and her friends had always gossiped and whispered about such things in the privacy of her bedroom, about the things a boy could do to a girl, or what a girl could do to a boy and Beth had always reddened and been quick to turn away. Now, as she sang her songs and listened to her words and thought of Daryl, she couldn't help but feel slightly aroused.

"You sing well," a voice interrupted her thoughts, making Beth's head snap up and eyes dart directly to the doorway. She should have closed it, she cursed herself upon discovering the person, the male standing there. He took up the whole doorway, his very presence making her feel small and insignificant and seeing his bow strapped to his back at the ready reminded her of the world they all lived in.

"Daryl," she whispered, obviously loud enough for him to hear, as he crossed the short distance from the doorway to the piano.

"Never knew this was here," he said, in low tones and his Southern drawl. Beth merely shrugged and rested her fingers on the keys. "Didn't know you played, neither. Though should have supposed, what with the singin' and all."

"I used to sing at my church," Beth offered, "sometimes I would play."

Daryl simply nodded and unstrapped his crossbow and rested it gently against the piano. He pressed one long, large finger down on a key and Beth giggled. He quirked an eyebrow at her and she straightened. "Sorry," she whispered. He shrugged and mentioned to the seat beside her. She nodded and quickly moved over, allowing his tall and large frame to sit comfortably on the seat.

"So, will you play something else for me?" he asked her, grazing the tips of his fingers over the keys, not making a sound. Beth watched his hands, large and combat ready and almost entirely darkened because of his outside activities. Beth nodded and quickly placed her fingers at the right keys, before replaying the previous verse of her song. Daryl watched her fingers as she guided along the various keys, pressing gently and making the sound echo through the room. "I wanted to check in on you," he suddenly spoke up, making her stop playing and turn to face him. "You know, after…"

Beth simply nodded and continued to stare at him while he looked at the keys.

"I don't blame you, or anyone," she replied, "these things happen now a-days. I'm just glad that it was you who told me."

Daryl chuckled then and allowed his hair to fall in his eyes. He needed a hair cut, Beth supposed.

"Yeah well," he responded to her, pushing himself up off the seat and proceeded to grab his crossbow, "other reason I came – Rick and me, we're startin' a self defence class. You know, hand to hand and weapons and such. Thought you may be interested."

"Yeah, of course, defiantly," she happily responded, jumping up off the seat and joining him as he reached the doorframe. He raised his eyebrow, another Daryl trait and she simply smiled, "I mean, its fun being with Judith all the time but I would love the lessons."

Daryl chuckled again and Beth watched the same hair as before fall into his eyes. "Come on then, class has started."

Things were looking up, Beth thought, following Daryl down the hallway and to an unknown, if not appreciated, defence class.

~ Fin


	4. Come Back to Me

Set during Season 4 Ep 3. Daryl visits Beth before going on a run.

"Can I have a minute with her?" Daryl asked Maggie, watching Beth through the tinted windows. Maggie nodded and waved one last time to Beth being walking down the hallway.

Daryl stepped forward and Beth noticed he wasn't wearing his vest or hauling the crossbow. Noticing her eyes, Daryl shrugged. "I'm going on a run. Heading up to the vet college to see if I can find some meds."

"Who else is going with you?"

"Bob. Spoke to Tyreese as well, asked him to come as well but he needs a minute." Beth nodded and leaned against the window, lifting her hand up to the window.

"I miss you."

"Miss you too, darlin'. Miss you so much." He reached his own hand up and placed it against the glass, wishing he was touching her. "Take care o' Judith okay? We're all trustin' you with her. And take care o' yourself as well, okay." Beth stepped closer and brought her face to the glass. Daryl leaned against it also.

"I love you," she whispered gently, not knowing if he heard her or not. She was answered with a slight nod as her reply.

"Stay safe," he replied to her, moving back a step. "Hey," he whispered, making her look up at him again, "you're gonna be okay. We're gonna make it through this. I'm going to come back with those meds and back to you."

"Okay," she answered, hastily nodding, "Daryl? Please be careful."

Daryl nodded, took one last look at the blonde girl behind the glass before turning and leaving the cellblock. He hoped that he could find the meds and return to her by the end of the day. He needed this, needed her back in his arms sooner rather than later.


End file.
